Rokinon/Samyang teasing with a new 135mm lens?

Rokinon has a new teaser on their Facebook page for what appears to be a new 135mm lens (any other ideas?). The official announcement will most likely be in January, 2015 - see also this Samyang teaser:

Nice, but when will they start making AF lenses? Samyang lenses are nice and a good value for money, but for a MF lens I can always look at the thousands of decent legacy lenses out there; at least when it comes to longer focal lengths, obviously I would not find a compact 12mm f/2 suitable for Sony E or MFT.

Samyang will have a hard time making a 135mm lens that is significantly better than an old Minolta MC/MD Rokkor 135mm or Canon FD 135mm which can be found for ridiculously low prices on eBay.

Corbin Dallas

This is true, but the issue is that there’s no guarantee of the condition of those lenses. I’m a huge supporter of vintage glass (most of what I use is vintage), but it’s definitely nice to have something new. Especially since the Samyang lenses are uncannily sharp and have great color and contrast imo.

David Peterson

It is a bitch of a pain to get a nice matching set of vintage lenses, and then you still need to mod them for cine use.

Not necessarily. Their 85mm f/1.4 is superb value. For the same amount I could get an AI 85mm f/1.8 in “OK” state, I got a mint Samyang 85mm f/1.4, in box, with original hood and caps (although the front cap is hideous). It’s also chipped, to boot. Besides being a bit faster, the Samyang is, IMO, superior optically, especially until f/2.8. Heck, on the 12MP sensor of the D700, you really have to pixel-peep to see any difference from the Nikkor AF-S…

preston

Manual focus on a 135mm lens with shallow DOF has gotta be a nightmare. And don’t give me any “you just need better technique” bs either.

Spy Black

I’ve been shooting with this lens below for the last, oh, 35 years or so. Still works like a charm, even on my D600.

Sorry, maybe I should have specified “. . for sports and/or other fast moving things”, which is primarily what I’d be using this lens for. I’m sure MF works great for other things but I’m looking for max in-focus percentage for this focal length.

Corbin Dallas

And so somehow because you don’t need a manual 135mm lens it’s a “nightmare” for everyone? Just admit your first comment was BS 😉

BTW, I’ve shot action with my Rokinon 85mm on a 6D and gotten a huge amount of keepers… so yeah, work on that technique 🙂

preston

If you had an 85mm with autofocus you would be able to get a much higher rate in focus. There is a reason the pro sport’s shooters use autofocus. That’s all I’m getting at. So no, I will not admit my comment was bs.

David Peterson

Not everybody uses their 135mm for sports!! I *never* do.

I’d love to get a f/2 lens for 135mm

preston

My initial comment was pointing out that manual focus with a long fast lens is more difficult than the other shorter fast lenses they make (14mm, 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm) and that 135mm was to the point where it wouldn’t be worth the cost savings over the canikon equiv if it doesn’t have autofocus. I don’t see why some people are offended by this opinion. I never said that if you claim to be able to get any shots in focus manually with a 135mm lens then you are a liar.

Spy Black

Well, you’re more than welcome to “spray and pray” with an AF lens. It’s your choice. But there was a time when all “sports and/or other fast moving things” were shot by photographers with nothing more than a lens like the one you see above. So yes, it is a matter of technique.

preston

That’s like saying, “Well, you’re more than welcome to use your fancy sewing machine, but there was a time when all “sweaters and/or other wearable garments” were stitched with nothing more than a needle, thread, and a well trained hand. So yes, it is a matter of technique”.

I’m talking about speed and accuracy here, not whether something is possible or not.

Spy Black

Speed, yes. Accuracy, not necessarily.

Corbin Dallas

No, you just heavily implied it… did you read what you wrote?

“Manual focus on a 135mm lens with shallow DOF has gotta be a nightmare. And don’t give me any “you just need better technique” bs either.”

And the Canon 135L is currently $1050 and the Nikon 135/2 is $1300… for referrence the 85L is $2000 and the Nikon 85/1.4 is $1600… the Samyang 85mm is under $300 (and performs just as well according the majority of users). If those lenses are any indication the Samyang 135mm will likely be under $400 and at most $500. At half the cost of the Canon and Nikon equivalent I’d say, yeah, it’s worth it. Especially since a 135/2 from the 70’s or 80’s goes for over $300 consistently on Ebay… I’d happily pay the extra little bit (or likely same amount) of money for the brand new Samyang.

Spy Black

Stick some ED and aspheric glass in that thing with some modern coatings, and you have a killer lens. That would certainly blow my old 135 f/2 away.

true

135 prime isn’t going to be the ideal lens for sports or fast. a 70-200 is so much better in every way.

What I like to know however is, will the samyang version have DC? I’m kind of curious of DC lenses, and I think it’s something that could be improved upon (upgraded to current/new sensors)

Camaman

Judging by the OOF area on that teaser its 135mm f2.0
Oh wait… What if they used it on m43?
Wait it looks more like f1.4 on ApS-C
No no no its,…

Merry Christmas equivalence trolls!

fortelibero

It’s a fact they didn’t make a AF lens yet, neither a genuine fast telephoto one. At least, are they starting now with both delicacy in a new one? what is only a lack in shorter focals lens could be unforgivable in a 135 or so. After all there’s plenty of good ol’ lenses in Ebay for portraits only.

FredBear

Well it’s a prime so 137mm would fit the bill (@ F1.7)

Guest

666mm .the beast lens …

true

135 DC, with improved sharpness over nikon version and cheaper price tag?